Nyango Star (にゃんごすたー) is a giant Japanese mascot cat-fruit hybrid whose ability to slay the drums has become an internet sensation. In the updated video above, Nyango Star plays Anpanman’s March, the theme song to an animated show called Soreike! Anpanman.
The character performs around Japan as a mascot for the city of Kuroishi in Aomori Prefecture, a region known for their apples. According to the Nyango Star website, our hero is part cat, part apple, and all metal. And if you think the name ‘Nyango Star’ sounds a bit like drummer Ringo Starr, you’d be right. Ringo (りんご) means ‘apple’ in Japanese. Nyan (にゃん) is the Japanese onomatopoeia for ‘meow’.
See another performance in this Yamaha Music Foundation promo.
Next: More Japan and a T-Rex dancing ballet. Plus, watch more drum videos, including Max Roach on the hi-hat, Monster Tubulum, Invisible Drum Kit, cdza’s Intro to Drums, the great Viola Smith, and Tom Tom Magazine‘s Oral History of Female Drummers.h/t @ThatEricAlper.
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